Vattenfall to donate research to bird charity after withdrawing wind farm scheme

Vattenfall has pledged to donate research data recording bird activity on a Galloway moor to a charity and the Government agency charged with looking after Scotland’s environment.

The pledge follows a decision by Vattenfall to withdraw its plans for a wind farm on Blackmyre Moor, near Creetown.

As part of a detailed environmental assessment of Blackmyre Moor, Vattenfall has gathered a significant amount of information on birds’ flight paths across the moor. The wind farm developer will give its research to RSPB Scotland and Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) to boost their knowledge of the moor’s bird population.

Following careful site research and the advice given by bodies such as Dumfries and Galloway Council, SNH and Historic Scotland, Vattenfall has decided not to pursue a development at this site due to concerns raised over the proximity to several Scheduled Monuments and the potential visual impact in the local area.

Andrew Bennett, Vattenfall’s Project Manager said: “Planning Policy Guidance set out recently by Dumfries and Galloway Council has indicated that only turbines of less than 80m would be appropriate for this area. We respect the guidance given by the Council and this was a factor in our decision to withdraw.

“We felt it was important to confirm our decision to withdraw to give certainty to as many local residents as possible.

“On the positive side, we hope that our two years of ornithological study will be useful to RSPB Scotland and SNH to supplement the understanding of bird species and numbers in the local area”.

Vattenfall announced proposals to develop a wind farm scheme on Blackmyre Moor late last year. The announcement was shortly followed by an extensive round of public consultations and engagement with statutory consultees such as Historic Scotland and SNH. Vattenfall are also developing another scheme, partly in Dumfries and Galloway, within Kyle forest.

NOTES TO EDITORS

About Vattenfall

Vattenfall is a leading European energy company. It is Europe’s sixth largest generator of electricity and largest producer of heat. Its major customers are industrial plants, energy companies, municipalities, property companies and housing associations across northern Europe. Vattenfall currently operates 686MW of offshore wind capacity around Europe, including Thanet Offshore Wind Farm, the world’s largest. It also operates 526MW of onshore wind across Europe, including Edinbane on the Isle of Skye.

Vattenfall's other websites

Follow us

About Vattenfall

Vattenfall is a European energy company with approximately 20,000 employees. For more than 100 years we have electrified industries, supplied energy to people's homes and modernised our way of living through innovation and cooperation. We now want to make fossil-free living possible within one generation.